The Notebook
by leneo
Summary: Love does not exist, it is as simple as that. Loving someone only ends in heartache. This is what Yugi Moto learned when he let his heart get broken by another. But, it is just his luck that three years later at a speed-dating fundraiser Yugi is forced to rethink his whole outlook on life when he becomes involved in the life of a pompous writer. Puzzleshipping! AU!


X

So far so good right? Yugi had managed to maintain his concentration through all the dates he had had thus far. He had even had some potential friends that he could possibly get out of it, but he wasn't too concerned about that sort of thing. This was to help fundraise for Rebecca to go to America to study her masters in L.A. (she was the granddaughter of Grandpa's good friend so it was the least he could do.)

So far he had come across all kinds of crazy characters, from a man with long silver hair who would not stop talking about his dead wife. He was convinced that he would find a business partner via speed dating to resurrect the dead. … Another partner had had the largest boobs Yugi had ever seen on another human being, and he had almost asked the lady if they were real. Yugi was looking forward to telling his friend Jonouchi all about the interesting people he had met, not just for the laughs, but for the inspirations they gave him for his new book. Yugi loved people and they inspired him to write.

Jonouchi had found him in the twenty minute break and the two of them hung around the bar discussing their time so far, and laughing as each one of them recalled some of their dates. Grabbing himself a ginger beer and Jou a flavoured vodka mix, Yugi listened intensely to his friend as he recalled one date. He handed the drink to his friend and relaxed into the stool beside him, twisting the lid off his drink as he kept his eyes on Jonouchi.

"I don't know about you Yug' but this guy in particular was a huge jerk," Jonouchi began, taking a swing at his drink. "He was so arrogant about the fact he had so much money that I am glad I will never have to speak to him again!"

Yugi smirked into his glass bottle and took a small slip of his drink. "Hopefully I don't come across him then!"

"Found any charmers yet?" Jonouchi asked, raising an eyebrow in Yugi's direction.

Yugi shook his head. "I am not here looking for a relationship Jou. You know that."

Jonouchi rolled his eyes at his friend's persistence.

"For as long as I have known you Yug', you have only ever had one relationship."

Yugi's eyes dropped into his liquid, as if finding something intriguing about his beverage. Jonouchi's wide smile faltered slightly becoming aware that perhaps he had gone too far this time. But the thing was is that knew he was venturing into areas which were uncharted conversing with Yugi; however he felt he needed to give his friend a boost. His only relationship had been rough on the boy and on the eve of his grandpa's death it had all ended badly, and that had been at least three years ago. Yugi had avoided relationships from that point onwards; he became closed off to the whole world, even Jonouchi.

Jonouchi reached over and poked his friend lightly to reawaken him from his thoughts. He didn't want his comment to be the reason his friend spent the rest of the night having a bad time.

"Forget I said anything," Jonouchi said, "I just want you to be happy Yug'."

Yugi gave his friend a small smile. "I am grateful for that Jou. I just don't want to think about that sort of stuff right now."

"I know, but maybe you shouldn't be so adamant that you won't ever find someone. I mean, there is probably the right person out there for you and you might miss them if you don't at least try."

"You sound just like Ryou when he tried to convince me to come to this stupid event."

"And he is completely right!"

"Now, just before I forget there was this one strange man who-"

A lady's voice came over a speaker interrupting idle chatter from around the room, indicating that the second round of blind dating was about to begin.

"Tell me later Yug' I wouldn't be surprised if you have written it down somewhere?"

Yugi nodded, guzzling down the rest of his drink before he followed suit back to the tables.

X

Yugi pulled himself down into a seat which he had been directed to by one of the organizers. He took a deep breath in through his mouth, pausing for a couple of seconds, and exhaled through his nose as he tried to return to a zone of relaxation. His nerves were starting to get the better of him after his conversation with Jonouchi, and he really hoped he did not embarrass himself. He checked his appearance, smoothing down any creases and brushing invisible dust off his jeans.

Yugi had found the whole event so far interesting, as he got to meet so many different people. But, with the majority of people he found he was talking about the same thing, asking the same questions over and over again, so the conversations were rather dull. The routine normally began with an exchange of names, followed up by a question about jobs or hobbies. Given only five minutes per round it meant that the short moments were not really long enough for anything else.

Yugi got out his mini notebook that had been tucked away in his trouser pocket and he placed it comfortably by his side, placing a pen on top for good measure. He began to twiddle with his thumbs, resisting the temptation to write something inside.

The vacant seat in front of Yugi suddenly moved as a man took hold of it and sat himself down opposite Yugi. He was tall, Yugi could give him that, and he had a smart style which consisted of a tweed jacket and tight black leather pants which made his rather lanky legs look even longer. Yugi paid extra close attention to the man's tri-coloured hair, which spiked up and looked as if it had somehow gained the ability to defy gravity. It was quite scary in aways to see a man sitting opposite him who looked like a near identical twin, apart from the fact he looked a couple of years older than Yugi.

"Hello," He greeted politely.

"Hi," Yugi returned, searching round quickly for an interesting question.

"My name is Yami," The man introduced."and you?"

"Yugi."

"That is a unique name; do you get many strangers asking you why you have been named after games?"

Yugi went pink at the question as he had been pushed off-guard by the personal nature of it, and so He wasn't quite sure how to reply after that. The man was eyeing him curiously, and having an attractive man's full attention made him nervous.

"My Grandpa liked games," Yugi explained. "He is gone now."

"I am sorry to hear about that," Yami said. "now tell me… I am sure you are sick of all those questions about jobs and favourite colours so I will give you some relief for the time. How about something fun, if you could go to anywhere in the world, where would it be, and why?"

His eyes suddenly widened in surprise. "That's easy, Egypt!"

"Oh, but why?"

"My Grandpa was an archaeologist, he worked there for many years, and one of my most favourite stories that Grandpa told me about was of a Tomb of a nameless Pharaoh!"

"Very good, little one," Yami said, smiling lightly.

"Now it's your turn," Yugi pushed.

"Quite right, well only a few minutes left on the clock let's get down to it!" Yami rubbed his hands together and continued. "I would love to go to the moon; it is a place where I can stay as far away from my parents as possible. On the other hand, I could also spend more time writing and less time doing other things which distract me from my life's pleasures."

"You are a writer?"

"Yes."

"What do you write?"

"Anything."

"I write too!"

The man's calm and collective expression showed that he didn't seem surprised by the revelation; his eyes darted down to the notebook at Yugi's side. He smirked and indicated to the book with his left hand.

"Your notebook of ideas?" He asked. "May I take a look?"

Yugi might have said no to any other stranger that wanted to have a peek inside his personal book, there was something different about this man, something trustworthy. Yugi nodded and lifted up the notebook handing over his most prized possession to the man. Yami pushed back the cover and the way his eyes went showed how quick of reader he was, and after he had finished the first page he looked up.

"This is interesting," He said.

"That is the story of one of the people I spoke to earlier."

Yami laughed, flicking back a heap of pages until he came to an empty page, he held his hand out without looking up. "Can you pass me that pen please?"

Yugi obeyed and flicked the pen into his hands. The man scribbled a quick note, shut the book and handed the pad back to Yugi. His eyes returned back to looking into his eyes.

"Don't look at it until after," He instructed.

Yugi found himself smirking at Yami despite himself. He had so many more questions for the man that he hadn't even realized and by that time Yami was standing back up to move on to the next date. He didn't take his eyes of the man as he pulled himself up from the chair, he probably couldn't even if he tried.

"Nice to meet you Yugi," Yami said.

"You to."

"I might hear from you again?"

"Yeah, if you want."

"Good," Yami's smiled beamed. "Enjoy the rest of your evening little one."

Yugi could feel his heart, smacking itself violently against his chest that he was almost afraid that it would break out and he would die in that instant. But strangely, that didn't seem to bother him. Maybe Jonouchi was right; speed dating wasn't so bad after all. Yugi hoped the rest of the night would continue the way it was going.

x


End file.
